Crossing the Rubicon

Many useful sayings or idioms come from history. “Crossing the Rubicon” is one of them.

Rubicon is a small river in the northern part of Italy. This river became famous when Julius Caesar crossed it in 49 BC, a event that sparked off a civil war for Rome which ultimately led to him becoming a dictator for life. This changed the course for Rome and led to the rise of the Imperial Roman Empire. Because of the significance of the event, “crossing the Rubicon” becomes an idiom that means to pass a point of no return. It is interesting to note that the Chinese saying 「踏上不歸路」has exactly the same meaning. Crossing this point, everything changes and one must move forward and shouldn’t look back.